Said & Done

Graham 'notorious' - Davis Paul Davis - former Arsenal hero, now youth team coach - has revealed how George Graham banned players from using agents at Highbury during his years in charge - at the same time as taking huge backhanders from Norwegian agent Rune Hauge.

Davis, in a strong attack on Graham ahead of today's game with Liverpool, also criticised his former manager for driving out senior players and alienating young Andy Cole. Arsène Wenger, though, is commended for being, by way of contrast, 'nice'.

'The influence of reputable agents, on the whole, is good for players now,' says Davis. 'But back then Graham would say: "No I'm not talking to any agents." He would allow a parent to sit in on meetings, but they were never the best people to represent the player. It happened a lot.

'Arsenal players at the time took things they didn't like passively. Because I was a senior player and not content and voiced my opinion he eased me out. The other seniors were people like Steve Williams, Charlie Nicholas, Graham Rix and Kenny Sansom. George moved them on very quickly and I was the only one who stayed.'

The same approach also led to Graham releasing Andy Cole to Bristol City. 'I tried to encourage Andy to stay but he didn't get on with management. He was quiet and single-minded and that lack of communication didn't help the situation. He had a personality clash with Graham and had it been a different manager, like Wenger, he might have stayed.'

Davis also says Wenger was not serious when he conceded the title to Manchester United last weekend. 'Wenger is nice and expresses himself in a quiet, articulate way. He was only kidding - he likes playing mind games.

'Arsenal are still capable of winning it, especially if we beat Liverpool [today]. Of course, it's up to United to keep dropping points, but it's far, far from over.'

The icon, his wife and the director Scandal at 1860 Munich. Before the Bundesliga's midwinter break, the German club were on a high: fourth in the league, playing flowing football and beating deadly rivals Bayern for the first time in more than 20 years. But since the restart things have all fallen apart: two humiliating defeats against minnows Wolfsburg (1-2) and Ulm (0-3) have ruined the club's most promising season for years. Sex, inevitably, is to blame.

According to the German tabloid Bild , the team fell apart after the wife of icon Thomas Hassler was caught in bed with the club's sporting director. Now the affair, which began between Angela (31) and director Edgar Geenen (46) in January, has hit every aspect of the club's operations. Distraught Hassler has begun playing dreadfully, and the players and fans are threatening revolt unless Geenen is sacked. Geenen, though, is unrepentant. 'Things that go wrong,' he says, 'will have to be fixed.' But how to fix them and restore Hassler's form? Angela, points out Bild, remains Hassler's agent. 'She and Geenan could sort out some details of a big new contract while they are in bed,' suggest the paper.

Palace clean up Crystal Palace - despite it all - have won something: independent internet site of the year. The Football Unlimited award, judged by Observer, Guardian and When Saturday Comes writers, means a trip for the site's designers to a top Serie A game. The site, Holmesdale Online, was chosen for its 'combination of news and information with the irreverent humour of a fanzine' - including a section allowing depressed fans to rearrange Mark Goldberg's face. And then to do the same to Terry Venables, Ron Noades, and, mysteriously, Iain Dowie.... Smug celebrations in progress, no doubt, at www.holmesdale.net

Win: free £500 bets, free phones Bookies William Hill have launched the country's first tax-free internet betting service at www.willhill.com - and, as with all good launches, there are prizes to be had. We've been offered two free £500 bets, and 20 pay-as-you-go One to One mobile phones to give away to anyone who can answer this: One of the site's first users last week made a tidy sum on Caledonian Thistle's 3-1 win over Celtic at odds of 100-1 - but how many punters, worldwide, backed Caley to win? Was it a) 5 b) 8 or c) 9? Send your answer to William Hill Competition, Observer Sport, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER.